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Legoland Windsor

There's nothing spooky about it...
Think you've kinda missed the point of the theme - it's supposed to take the traditional haunted house theme and turn it on its head, make it barely scary/spooky, and thus more fun for younger kids. Which doesn't mean it's not enjoyable for older people - it's a new idea for a Madhouse, and fairly unique in that respect. Plus, let's not forget, people are always berating Merlin for their doom and gloom, destruction and decaying themes.
 
I have read countless reviews today of people only managing 4-6 rides all day. How on earth did you manage 23,. including 3 on a ride that had pretty long queues all day?

Enthusiasts tend to be more efficient with ride counts as we know the tricks to navigating the parks and making the most out of a day. Although I bemoan people who do no research before a day out, you can’t expect the average paying guests to know the detail a geek knows in getting on rides fast. I suspect said person was also not visiting with small children who need more regular breaks.
 
I have read countless reviews today of people only managing 4-6 rides all day. How on earth did you manage 23,. including 3 on a ride that had pretty long queues all day?

Here's a couple of seasons how I got the ride count:
  • At rope drop, I ran to ninjago via miniland and was also able to do laser raiders before 10:30
  • Queue times were not always accurate e.g. ninjago said it had an hour queue but was actually under 10 minutes so I was able to ride twice
  • Jolly Rocker has a single rider line which I was ableb to use
  • I did a variety of attractions (with my family) including fairy tale brook and the 4d show, which had shorter lines
  • If there was an attraction that I could clearly see was going to be over an hour queue, I would avoid it e.g. squid surfer was running 1 side but had a fairly full queue. This meant the longest I queued was 45 minutes for coastguard hq
I'm not going to do a full trip report but if you are interested, this was how the ride count was formed.

LEGO NINJAGO: The Ride - 3
Laser Raiders - 1
Dragon's Apprentice - 1
Mia's Riding Adventure - 2
Coastguard HQ - 1
Knight's Quest - 1
Atlantis Submarine Voyage - 1
Jolly Rocker - 2
Viking's River Splash - 2
Destiny's Bounty - 1
Hill Train - 2
Lego Studios 4D - 1
Thunder Blazer - 1
DUPLO Valley Airport - 1
Fairy Tale Brook - 1
The Dragon - 2

Finally, the Now TV stands really stick out at the park as they are in the beginning, outside ninjago world and in lego city. I don't mind if it was in 1 location that's got no other theming but it felt a bit like Now TV theme park at times.
 
Here's a couple of seasons how I got the ride count:
  • At rope drop, I ran to ninjago via miniland and was also able to do laser raiders before 10:30
  • Queue times were not always accurate e.g. ninjago said it had an hour queue but was actually under 10 minutes so I was able to ride twice
  • Jolly Rocker has a single rider line which I was ableb to use
  • I did a variety of attractions (with my family) including fairy tale brook and the 4d show, which had shorter lines
  • If there was an attraction that I could clearly see was going to be over an hour queue, I would avoid it e.g. squid surfer was running 1 side but had a fairly full queue. This meant the longest I queued was 45 minutes for coastguard hq
I'm not going to do a full trip report but if you are interested, this was how the ride count was formed.

LEGO NINJAGO: The Ride - 3
Laser Raiders - 1
Dragon's Apprentice - 1
Mia's Riding Adventure - 2
Coastguard HQ - 1
Knight's Quest - 1
Atlantis Submarine Voyage - 1
Jolly Rocker - 2
Viking's River Splash - 2
Destiny's Bounty - 1
Hill Train - 2
Lego Studios 4D - 1
Thunder Blazer - 1
DUPLO Valley Airport - 1
Fairy Tale Brook - 1
The Dragon - 2

Finally, the Now TV stands really stick out at the park as they are in the beginning, outside ninjago world and in lego city. I don't mind if it was in 1 location that's got no other theming but it felt a bit like Now TV theme park at times.

Fair play. I won't be running for attractions at my age. Those days are well and truly behind me. And I have a 5 year old too so we wouldn't get there much faster anyway.

Some good tips though. If HH is open we plan on going there first before the queue gets ridiculous. We will be there for 9.30 to ensure we are one of the first to ride if it opens.
 
Think you've kinda missed the point of the theme - it's supposed to take the traditional haunted house theme and turn it on its head, make it barely scary/spooky, and thus more fun for younger kids. Which doesn't mean it's not enjoyable for older people - it's a new idea for a Madhouse, and fairly unique in that respect. Plus, let's not forget, people are always berating Merlin for their doom and gloom, destruction and decaying themes.
That's what I said in the very next sentence though, I do like the party theme! I think it's the ride's redeeming factor and clearly people enjoy it. It tickled me too. Sorry if I didn't clarify before.

But I just think if you're going to call it 'haunted house' on the door, you should deliver something at least slightly spooky to begin with, before you deliver the twist. Parents were setting their kids up for something spooky walking in, only to be greeted with an empty room and no reaction, then the disco balls came out straight away. I thought that was a missed opportunity.

I don't mean go the usual Merlin dreary theme route (which I agree is tiring). The Billund one has more spoopiness before the ride like suits of armour moving, creepy corridors and just generally has more to it. This one is a good idea but has been stripped down to the most basic version of itself, and is in the wrong place.

I also felt that it didn't have any Lego presence in it either.

but approve others despite other obvious environmental concerns (i.e. blighting the landscape, which - for a park sited on a hill - it does).
To be fair to them, that's not their concern really since it's private land. The landscape that this ride obliterated (like most recent developments) happened to be man-made with the original park, it's just Merlin having no care for park planning.
 
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Haunted House Monster Party has just re-opened in last half an hour. Hopefully they have sorted the issue.
 
Skyrider was supposedly closed because it cannot operate when there's clouds. Sounds odd but that's what I was told. Laser raiders is operating completely fine. Pirate Falls is odd because the water is drained and there's a big orange tent in the queue. I can only presume its' closure was caused by staffing problems as nobody in the ride area.
 
Seems like the Haunted House only opened for just over an hour before closing again.

Sounds like havoc all over the park too with staff being described as less than useless on online reviews.

Merlin keep adding more parks and Midway's to their portfolio and can't even run the ones they already have properly. Walk before you run springs to mind.
 
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